Hours after two people were killed by a gunman inside a White Settlement church on Sunday, lawmakers praised the members of a church security ...
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Texas church shooting: Good guys with guns versus Joe Biden's 'totally irrational' perspectives
WALTER E. WILLIAMS: Virginia's Second Amendment attack
Marine Absorbs Grenade Blast In Afghanistan, Earns MoH
By Katie Lange
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Remembering a ceremony honoring Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II with the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, I thought it would be fitting to highlight another recipient who earned his medal during that same mission. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter survived to tell his story, unlike several other men who sacrificed their lives to save their comrades.
Carpenter grew up in Flowood, Mississippi, in the 1990s and joined the Marine Corps in 2009 in South Carolina, less than a year after graduating from high school.
Within a year of finishing basic training, he was deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to serve as a squad automatic rifleman with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
Carpenter was part of a platoon-sized coalition force that included the Afghan National Army. Together, they had set up Patrol Base Dakota in a small village on Nov. 19, 2010, to disrupt insurgent activity and provide security for local Afghans.
Two days later, on Nov. 21, 2010, Carpenter and Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio were manning a rooftop security position on the base’s perimeter when Taliban insurgents attacked with grenades, one of which landed in the sandbagged area the two men were in.
Without thinking twice, Carpenter rushed toward the grenade to try to shield Eufranzio from the blast. When it went off, his body absorbed most of it.
Eufranzio was spared, but Carpenter was severely injured. He survived, but not without spending two and a half years recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He was medically retired as a Marine corporal on July 30, 2013.
For his selflessness and devotion to duty, Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor on June 19, 2014, in a ceremony at the White House.
“You notice Kyle doesn’t hide his scars. He’s proud of them and the service they represent,” then-President Barack Obama said before putting the medal around the Marine’s neck. “You displayed heroism in a blink of an eye that will inspire for generations – valor worthy of our nation’s highest military decoration.”
Carpenter became the third Marine and the 15th overall recipient of the medal for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He went on to attend college at the University of South Carolina and occasionally speaks to groups about his experiences.
Thank you, Corporal Carpenter, for your sacrifice and honor!
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The Teens: Decade of Trump
Secure the Schools, Save the Second Amendment
United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- When discussing how mass shootings are a major vulnerability for our Second Amendment rights, there is one place in particular that Second Amendment supporters should be paying attention to: Schools. These are the worst types of mass shootings for obvious reasons. Not only is there a horrific tragedy, but all too often, the victims are children with a whole life ahead of them.
The mass shooting at Columbine prompted a new push for semi-auto bans. That was bad enough for Second Amendment supporters, but the Sandy Hook mass shooting was, in some ways, a game-changer. Why? In addition to a half-dozen teachers, 20 six-year-old children were killed. This was easily the most horrific event you could imagine outside a major terrorist attack. We will never know whether that horrific act was a crime or act of madness, due to the shooter committing suicide, but that doesn’t negate the horror nor the damage done to our rights.
Let’s face it, even though Second Amendment supporters beat back efforts to reinstate a federal semi-auto ban, in some ways, the cause of freedom still lost. It wasn’t just seeing new semi-auto bans pass in several states, it also came in the form of anti-Second Amendment extremists upping their attacks.
Things went even further after Parkland. Now, any Second Amendment supporter knows how the bumbling cowards of Broward County failed to stop the shooter long before that tragic and horrific mass shooting. Those failures, though, are what Second Amendment supporters must address.
Again, it should be common sense for Second Amendment supporters to work to address school shootings. Again, if we don’t have Second Amendment-compliant solutions, then Bloomberg’s bought-and-paid-for politicians and stooges will propose their extreme anti-Second Amendment agenda – and a bunch of freaked-out soccer moms will back that agenda in order to protect their kids.
What sort of Second Amendment-complaint solutions should be considered? Making the schools harder targets is one of them. Passive security measures, like metal detectors and surveillance cameras, are one option. Another, of course, is better active security – armed security presence, including, but not limited to, willing school personnel.
This generates controversy but shouldn’t. Second Amendment supporters are all too familiar with the harsh reality that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Thankfully, the NRA School Shield program is being offered. This program is something Second Amendment supporters should be promoting at their local school boards – if for no other reason than to get the refusal to consider the program on the record.
But that is only part of the solution. The fact is, as was shown with Parkland, the potential shooter gave off a lot of warning signs. Some existing laws could have addressed the situation: Second Amendment supporters may not like the Gun-Free School Zones Act, but it could be a tool to at least address some potentially dangerous students (keep in mind, the Parkland shooter was caught with ammunition and knives on school grounds) – and given the expansion of concealed carry, there is much less chance a law-abiding citizen exercising their Second Amendment rights will be caught up in it. As is the case with other mass shootings, the debate over ERPOs/”red flag” laws also enters into this, along with the use (or lack of use) of civil commitment laws. It’s not ideal, but we need to focus on what is achievable, and deal with the situation as it is, not how we wish it to be.
One voice Second Amendment supporters should back is that of Andrew Pollack. Since the death of his daughter in the Parkland shooting, Pollack has founded Americans for Children’s Lives and School Safety (CLASS). None of this group’s proposals attack our Second Amendment rights, which should allow Second Amendment supporters to back them in good conscience.
Finally, if you have kids in school, this is important: Talk to them. Encourage them to say something if they see something. Make sure they are prepared to defend the Second Amendment. Find out what is going on in their schools. If they have concerns, sound the alarm.
Mass shootings in schools give anti-Second Amendment extremists the chance to make major gains. The smart move is for Second Amendment supporters to work for preventing them with a Second Amendment-compliant agenda. This isn’t being a “Fudd,” an “appeaser,” or “capitulating” to those who oppose our freedoms, it is about heading off attacks on our rights before they happen.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
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Virginia: Defend Freedom – Join Us January 13th, 2020
Opinion
Fairfax, VA – -(Ammoland.com)- Gun bans, gun rationing, confiscation – it’s all on the table when the newly bought and paid for majority of the Virginia General Assembly fast tracks their anti-gun agenda in January. They will gladly cast your right of self-defense aside as they try to check off every gun control scheme on Michael Bloomberg’s wish-list.
This fight begins on January 13th during the first hearing of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, and we must hold tyranny in check. While it is important for Virginia gun owners to make their voices heard at all times, it is critical on this first day.
The pace of this session will be like none we have seen in recent history. Waiting even one week to visit the Capitol, whether on your own or at an organized event will be too late. It is time to stand with your fellow NRA members and urge the committee to block the Bloomberg – Northam gun ban. Together, we will defend our freedom.
January 13, 2020, starting 8AM
Virginia State Capitol
1000 Bank St.
Richmond, VA 23218
NRA staff will be on-site with giveaways, including an emergency airdrop from Magpul.
Be on the lookout for postcards and emails with legislative updates and upcoming townhall events to defend and fight for our rights. We trust that when called upon, NRA Members will show Bloomberg and Northam why we are the most formidable political force in history. Stay Tuned – Get Active – Let’s Stand and Fight!
For more information, please visit www.VAGUNBAN.org
About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
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